Do You Have a Favorite Quote?

Updated on January 11, 2012
J.T. asks from Mansfield, TX
44 answers

Do you have a favorite quote you would like to share? A quote that motivates you or helps you keep things in perspective in sticky situations? With the new year beginning and many of us embarking on a mission to better ourselves in general and improve our way of thinking, I thought it would be nice for the Ladies (and gents) of Mamapedia to share the words that may help us along the way.

I'll go first:
If you don't like something, ACCEPT IT, CHANGE IT, OR GET OVER IT.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results.
Holding a grudge is like drinking poision and expecting the other person to die. (Luckily, I don't "need" this one!)

Whatcha got?

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Thank you all so much for responding. Maybe we changed someone's perspective on something he/she was struggling with! Yea, us!!

Featured Answers

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T.M.

answers from Tampa on

Never make someone a priority when they only make you an option.

I am trying to learn to live this one myself.

8 moms found this helpful
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J.B.

answers from Atlanta on

"If the whole world followed you, would you be pleased with where you took it?"

- Neale Donald Walsh

5 moms found this helpful

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Maya Angelou:

People will forget what you said, will forget what you did, but will always remember the way you made them feel.

(or something like that)

3 moms found this helpful

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S.B.

answers from Dallas on

My favorite comes from my son's tball coach. It came up after a particular game when my, then five year old, started the game uncooperative. He fussed, he cried, he refused to play. The coach was patient and basically let my kid go through whatever was causing the meltdown until he was ready to play. The second half of the game my son did great. The coach decided to give my son the game ball, which I found surprising. When he gave it to my son he said to the team, "Remember, it's not how you start the game, it's how you finish it." This has become a family motto. We say it to each other often...it helps.

6 moms found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

NEVER GIVE UP!!! NEVER SURRENDER!!!

Yeah, it's from a movie - but when times get tough - I don't give in or walk away. I work through it.

What a good question! Thanks for sharing!

5 moms found this helpful
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L.M.

answers from Iowa City on

By the time I realized my mother was right, I had a daughter who knew I was wrong

5 moms found this helpful
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☆.A.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Plato

4 moms found this helpful

B.K.

answers from Chicago on

Wonder, rather that doubt, is the root of all knowledge. -- Abraham Heschel

Or

I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ. -- Gandhi

4 moms found this helpful

✤.J.

answers from Dover on

I really like this one: The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. ~~ Jack Kerouac

3 moms found this helpful

☆.H.

answers from San Francisco on

If you're going through hell, keep going... - Winston Churchill

3 moms found this helpful
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C.N.

answers from Baton Rouge on

Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, pee on it and walk away.

3 moms found this helpful
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M.K.

answers from Columbus on

My Mom - whom I miss dearly - always cut things out of the paper and put them on our kitchen door for us to read. Here are a few of my favorites that I've saved. Unfortunately, I don't know any of the authors.

"Make sombody happy today. Mind your own business!"

"Whoever has a heart full of love always has something to give."

"You have only failed when you have failed to try!"

and my favorite:

"Any man can be a father....but it takes someone special to be a Daddy!"

(I miss my Daddy, too.)

Thanks for the fun posting!

3 moms found this helpful
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R.C.

answers from Nashville on

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Yes. I'm just that nerdy. :-)

3 moms found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Kansas City on

Loose Lips Sink Ships. We say this a lot. You can take it lots of ways. Don't say anything that you don't need to say. You can ruin a friendship with words. People don't need to know all of your business. Don't talk too much!! Thinking about it has helped me in a lot of situations.

3 moms found this helpful
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A.L.

answers from Charleston on

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Love me some Emerson... :) Have a great day!

2 moms found this helpful
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C.B.

answers from Boston on

"It is never too late to have a happy childhood" Tom Robbins

2 moms found this helpful
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K.M.

answers from Norfolk on

Pessimists calculate the odds. Optimists believe they can overcome them. ~ Ted Koppel

“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” W. Clement Stone

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."- Albert Einstein

Never be less than the best - high school motto and to me it doesn't mean that you have to be the best, you just have to try your best,

What comes around goes around & let it go - helps me keep my cool when someone is being a jerk.

Live every day like it;s your last. - reminds me that I could die tomorrow so live today, really live!

We can work it out. - helps remind me that no matter how big or bad a problem seems if you take it apart piece by piece you can find a way to work with it or work through it

2 moms found this helpful

P.W.

answers from Dallas on

"No one can make you feel inferior without your permission."
Eleanor Roosevelt

“Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, Grow, grow.'” The Talmud

2 moms found this helpful
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C.D.

answers from St. Louis on

I'm not sure of the exact wording but my favorite is "If a voice inside you tells you that you can't paint then by all means paint and silence the voice."

2 moms found this helpful

M.J.

answers from Milwaukee on

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” Albert Einstein

I like this one right now as it's one of those thoughts I ponder about.

2 moms found this helpful

E.B.

answers from Seattle on

''Giving up on today, means you do not care about tomorrow''-Myself

''When the People Lead, the Leader's will have to follow''-Ben Harper

''Is it the life that you lead, or the life that's led for you? Will you take the road that's been laid out before you, will we cross paths, somewhere down the line''-Rise against

And the one that I use now most often.....''Lead, follow or get out of my(our) way''-Not sure who said it.....but I LOVE the power and honesty behind it.

For some reason 28 for me was the year of the favorite ''Quotes'' ......So I am super excited to go through responses now:)

2 moms found this helpful
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L.S.

answers from San Francisco on

For sticky situations: "Begone before someone drops a house on you too!" said by Glenda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. I don't say this out loud, but I do think it from time to time and it helps me stay calm.

2 moms found this helpful
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A.C.

answers from Columbus on

Motivation:
The field does not get plowed by turning it over in your mind.

or:
Do or do not. There is no try. (Yoda)

Sanity check (actually a sort of mediation):
Breathe in lightness, breathe out darkness (say it slow and breathe in while saying the first part, and exhale slow while saying the second part slowly)

For myself, when I'm really angry, I try to remember to ask myself this:
Am I choosing to be angry?
Sometimes the answer is yes, and sometimes it's no. Because if I think about my anger, a lot of times I realize that the only one suffering from it is myself.

2 moms found this helpful
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E.G.

answers from Atlanta on

"Eat at Moe's"..... okay, just kidding here....

One of my all-time favorites, and probably the one I try to live my life by is "Fake it until you believe it." This covers just about every place in your life where there is something you really want for yourself, but aren't sure you could ever do it..... YEAH YOU CAN!

BTW, Christy D, I LOOOOVVVE your quote.

E.

2 moms found this helpful
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N.S.

answers from Chicago on

My favorite: Don't raise your voice, improve your argument.

If you want the fruit, sometimes you need to go out on a limb.

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.--Helen Keller

You can't have an active mind in an inactive body.--Patton

My mantra to my son- You don't have to be the best, you have to try your best. (not proper grammar, I'm sure, but it get's the point across)

2 moms found this helpful

A.J.

answers from Williamsport on

"It's wonderful not to say something mean about someone, but it's even better not to think it."

2 moms found this helpful
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K.M.

answers from Kansas City on

I can't remember exactly who said this (I think it was Mark Twain??), and my wording may not be completely accurate, but it goes something like this:

"Better to remain silent and be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

Great question! Happy New Year everyone!

2 moms found this helpful
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M.L.

answers from Philadelphia on

Prepare the child for the path, not the path for the child.

2 moms found this helpful

Y.C.

answers from Orlando on

I love this question, just by reading some of the answers I feel so much happier (not that I was sad, just happier).
My favorite was already posted, here is another one of my favorites-yet I'm not sure who wrote it:
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly"
and my daughter's favorite is:
"Be yourself, everyone else is already taken" Oscar Wilde.

2 moms found this helpful

T.F.

answers from Dallas on

Never, ever give up. This is a family quote and is also posted on my husband's tile in the Sports Museum where he was on the golf team 4 yrs.

Failure is NOT an option.

1 mom found this helpful

C.J.

answers from Milwaukee on

(Almost) everything is fixable.

I tell my son this all the time. (Cuts down on the meltdowns.)

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from St. Louis on

"Peace be with you".....

1 mom found this helpful
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S.S.

answers from Sacramento on

I have a few:

'Duly noted' - Cletis

'Merry Christmas! Shitter's full!' - Cousin Eddie

'You're gonna need a bigger boat' - Jaws

'I am easily satisfied with the very best' - Winston Churchill

'It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations' - Churchill.

1 mom found this helpful

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

"Do or do not...there is no try." ~Yoda

"This too shall pass". ~Abe Lincoln

1 mom found this helpful

J.B.

answers from Houston on

Not sure of the origin, 'Life is short'

1 mom found this helpful
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M.T.

answers from New York on

I have two special favorites.
One is from the Ayn Rand book the Fountainhead, when Howard Roarke is asked by the man who ruined him, "So, what do you think of me now?" and he replies, "But I don't think of you."
My other favorite is a Maya Angelou, "I may be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it."

1 mom found this helpful
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J.K.

answers from Sacramento on

Be the change you wish to see in the world~ Ghandi

Fun question!

1 mom found this helpful
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C.Z.

answers from Omaha on

I love "It is what it is..." So many people get wrapped up in the little things...if you can simply accept that situations are what they are, people are who they are, fights happen (so does making up), and so forth, then many things that you CANNOT change become understandable, but not necessarily acceptable.

I also love "You cannot out-crazy the crazies!" (thank you Kelle!) Simply put, when someone is acting crazy or unreasonable, you will never be able to out-crazy them so don't get hung up on it.

This was a GREAT question with GREAT answers!!!

1 mom found this helpful
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M.G.

answers from Cleveland on

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it - Nelson Mandela

and from my dad.....
It isn't the rig you pull in with it is what you pull out of the rig you pull in with.
Has to do with showing horses but has a lot of truth behind it in other aspects of life. Another one from him
Some days you get the bear and some days the bear gets you....

Fun post thanks!

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Washington DC on

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending"- Maria Robinson

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W.D.

answers from Chicago on

Great ideas/thoughts!

Mine is from my dad-

"don't keep your head down long, because you may miss what's around the next corner."

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M.H.

answers from Chicago on

Since I'm always running late... "Better to lose a minute in life than your life in a minute" -- my mom.

This also helps avoid speeding tickets :)

A.G.

answers from Houston on

I like a lot of them, this is one i read today that i loved

"Love is the path of least resistance"
~Anonymous

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J.S.

answers from Providence on

"Pray for things that money cannot buy."

I came up with this quote when my father was very ill and realized that all the money in the world would not make him better. I really love it and it keeps my grounded at times when I need it. J

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